If minors who commit violent crimes were tried as adults in court, the number of violent crimes committed by youth would decrease (Layzell, 2005). In the future, the number of violent crimes in general would decrease as harsher penalties and punishments would be used to keep violent offenders in prison for longer sentences. In the unified crime reports violent crimes can be defined as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, larceny-theft and the like depending on state law. According to statistics the number of violent crimes committed by people under the age of eighteen has gone down since its peak in 1994 (Estudillo, 2001). That is not to say that violent crime among youths is uncommon. Of the 2.5 million juveniles arrested in 1999, one hundred and four thousand of the arrests were for violent crimes. “Juveniles accounted for 16 percent of all violent crime arrests and thirty two percent of all property crime arrests in 1999” (PBS Frontline, 2005). The more recent numbers in certain cities vary. Depending on the city and/or state is where the difference in numbers shows for the amount of juveniles who have been put behind bars. In my perspective, it can be argued that violent crimes will decrease if a tougher penalty is assessed based on the juvenile being tried as an adult in court.…